AFL round 9: Glenn McFarlane analyses Clayton Oliver’s return in Melbourne’s loss to Hawthorn
After his trade to Geelong fell through, critics have been questioning just how invested Clayton Oliver is at Melbourne. On Saturday, they got their answer.
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It was the home-cooked Mexican meal last Wednesday shared between mates who have ridden footy’s rollercoaster for a decade which, in part, showed how much love there is for Clayton Oliver at the Melbourne Football Club.
Christian Petracca cooked the dish, of course! But the bond between ‘Trac’, Christian Salem and Oliver – drafted in three successive years – extends so much further than just what happens on the football field.
In a week in which Oliver was preparing to return after bravely stepping aside for a game in round 9 to focus on his wellbeing, it was only natural that the trio would sit down for a bite to eat to check in on how the midfielder was faring ahead of Saturday’s clash with Hawthorn.
“It was at Trac’s house … he did the cooking,” Salem said after the Demons’ 35-point loss to the Hawks.
“We have been on the same journey for a long time and we’ve done a lot of things together, the three of us. We support each other through the good times and the bad.
“We will always be there for one another.”
A day after ‘Spud’s Match’ shone a light on the importance of mental health, Oliver was back where he belonged on Saturday – in the middle of the MCG.
But this time it was in a different guise – a self-appointed role as tagger opposed to Hawk Jai Newcombe.
An injury to Jack Viney, and coach Simon Goodwin’s confidence in him to play the role, saw Oliver run with Newcombe for 93 minutes.
“(Oliver) couldn’t wait to do it, as soon as he stepped into the office yesterday he said ‘Newcombe?’ and I said ‘yep’ – he was all over it,” coach Simon Goodwin said.
“He wanted the job, he wanted to go after it, that’s the type of guy you’ve got, he wanted to do what’s best for the team and that’s what we’re about.
“Newcombe has been in great form, he’s a high-quality player, Clayton is coming back into some form and this gave him a real focus and what he could do for the team.
“It is ultimately about what you can do for the team and I thought today he was outstanding.”
Goodwin said playing Oliver as a tagger was something the Demons would be open to exploring, particularly as Viney sits another week with an “unusual” concussion.
“It’s certainly something we will look at, clearly our midfield we feel like we’ve got some real experience in there,” he said.
“With Viney and Oliver both being able to do it, it gives us a great opportunity to see what best fits each week.
“ (Viney) won’t play next week, he certainly had some delayed symptoms he wasn’t quite sure about.
“Thursday he just didn’t feel right at training and that was when the decision was made, have a scat, he didn’t pass his test and he goes into the protocols at that point.
“He’ll miss next week, it’s a bit of an unusual one from a concussion perspective but you just don’t take a risk in this space, his health is the main priority.”
In that time, Oliver had 13 disposals (eight contested) while Newcombe had 17.
Neither had a big impact on the game, but the coach and his teammates lauded Oliver’s efforts in trying to negate the dangerous Hawk.
He was far from the dominant midfielder who reeled off four best and fairest wins and kicked one of the signature goals of the 2021 grand final.
But given Oliver’s personal challenges in recent years, the fact he is still out there playing – and even more so the fact he is willing to put his hand up for help on occasions – is something that fills those closest to him with great pride.
“I am extremely proud to see not only his growth, but the club’s growth as well,” Salem said of how the Demons have put their collective arms around Oliver.
“We’ve been able to put our arms around him and support him. He is in a very good spot. He obviously took a week off as you can see today (on Saturday), it hasn’t affected him.
“It’s great to see his growth in the last couple of weeks, with everything he has been through versus what he has done in the past when he might have soldiered on … we’re so proud of him.
“There is (a lot of love) … he has been through a lot in the last few years and just to see him healthy and back playing is so good.”
The solidarity for Oliver came from the other side of the fence too, as part of a social media campaign from Melbourne supporters to give him a round of applause at the 13-minute-mark of the first term (denoting his jumper number).
The timing could have been better though. It came just seconds after an Oliver lunge to tackle Jack Ginnivan had been broken in the Hawks’ attack, resulting in a Luke Breust goal.
The cheer went on regardless, but it was replicated with much more feeling nine minutes later when Oliver gathered his first possession and helped to set up Melbourne’s second goal of the game, via Tom Sparrow.
It was a nice moment on another tough day for the Demons, who have now sunk to 3-6, with an away clash with Brisbane to come next weekend.
Melbourne did a lot right in the first three quarters and could have led by more than a few goals at stages of the game, other than for some poor skill execution.
Salem said the frustration over the last term fade-outs – an alarming trend in the Demons’ losses this season – needed to be addressed.
“We were up for it (the fight) for three quarters … (but) you can see the trend of our losses has been the fade-away in the last quarters,” he said.
“It’s not a fitness thing. It is a bit of execution stuff and being able to go for 120 minutes with our game style.
“It’s extremely disappointing for it to happen again, but we look at the first three quarters and take some positives from it.”
But he stressed the performance of the Demons young players, including Harvey Langford, gave him confidence a bounce back will come soon.
Originally published as AFL round 9: Glenn McFarlane analyses Clayton Oliver’s return in Melbourne’s loss to Hawthorn
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